The Black Prince
by LoneTraveller
Summary: Continuation of Discarding the Mask. The border between Britannia and the Chinese Federation begins to decay. War is now on the agenda... Update status: Highly Irregular
1. Plans Laid

_From the Author: Hi! Meditation really helps convince the Ideas to come slamming into your head a bit faster. A note of caution though, don't meditate close to anything fragile since sudden jerks are common when getting hit by an Idea. Anyway, this is certainly an alternate time line now. And just for the record, this starts off right after the previous fic. Now, onward with the story!_

* * *

_**Plans Laid**_

Ashford Academy, the most prestigious of the Britannian schools in Area 11 was always considered to be the most boisterous school in all of Britannia, or maybe even the world. With festivals occurring on an almost weekly basis, it was inevitable that people would think that particular school was quite a bit of a mad house.

And the reason why many thought of the school in such a queer way, was due to Milly Ashford, the School Council President who had a taste for the more eccentric and insane parties.

The teen in question was currently placing an order five hundred pizzas of every flavor imaginable from Pizza Hut. She had bought enough drinks to fill the school pool twice over and enough finger food to last the school population a week. All that hard work for Kallen Stadtfeld, who was holding her celebration for getting Knighted in the School Council Building, just like her predecessor, Suzaku.

But Milly needed to come up with a plan to get a monster-sized cake for Kallen, because the cake shop that she liked was closed down for renovations, and she hated the other cake shops that always charged exorbitant prices. Their cakes were terrible too, so why buy crappy and expensive cakes... when you could make it yourself.

As things usually went, Milly was just cooking up another recipe for disaster.

Milly was a qualified cook who could pretty much cook anything a person could name, just not in the scale of baking she was planning unfortunately.

However, the rest of the School Council, whom she had drafted into helping as always, were completely clueless on how to cook. Euphie, the latest addition to the Council, was a Princess who had attended a few cooking lessons before, and knew how to do some basic stuff like sifting flour or beating eggs, but that was it.

Shirley, was a complete klutz who could mess up the simplest processes, like mixing the batter. Rivalz was only good for peeling the fruits for the cake, which Milly had intended to be a fruit cake.

Suzaku was no good with baking at all, even though he could actually cook quite decently, and Nunnaly... well she was blind, so no one wanted to trouble her.

Nina, was to put it very simply, completely incapable of making food and and was ushered out of the kitchen after she somehow managed to make a pack of flour burst into a giant white cloud, turning the whole council into ghostly looking white figures.

_Where's my slav- I mean Prince when I need him... wah!_ Milly cried in a corner as Shirley spoiled another batch of flour, butter and egg.

Only Lelouch would have been able to handle the chaos to cook up the most delicious cuisine. What was Milly to do without her wonderful Vice-President.

Suzaku shared a small glance with Euphemia, and both of them sighed in exasperation. They were never going to be able to bake the cake. Rivalz continued to peel the kiwis and mangoes as fast as he could, desperate to get out of the kitchen and watch the Knighting Ceremony that was gong to start soon.

Finally, when Shirley had nearly spilled yet another batch of batter, Milly snapped.

"Alright Shirley, I'll do the mixing..." Milly wrenched a bowl from her fellow Council member and proceeded to mix the batter with tears in her eyes, muttering about how she missed her Lelouch.

One hour passed, along with twenty wasted packets of flour, fifteen crushed eggs, a kilogram of ruined butter, a broken mixer and a very dirty Student Council, the batter was ready for baking.

Frankly, Suzaku thought the money that was just wasted would have been better used to buy the disgusting and expensive cakes that Milly had been complaining about. He was willing to bet a million pounds that the yucky cakes would probably have tasted nicer than their massive cake, which resembled an explosion more than a pastry.

"OKAY! Let's put the cake in the oven", Shirley cried joyfully, thinking more about getting a quick shower to clean off rather than finishing the pastry.

Everyone watched as Milly slid the cake into the oven and switched the appliance on.

Milly swirled to face her fellows, a strained smile stretching across the extremely stressed out visage, "Okay then, I think... we should go and wash up and then watch the Knighting Ceremony. The cake should be done when the whole thing has ended."

With a chorus of agreement, the Student Council rushed off to the showers.

Suzaku had never been so happy to get shower in his life. Even the army training did not make him feel so dirty.

"Hey Suzaku, how do you think the cake will turn out." Rivalz called out from the next door cubicle.

Suzaku shrugged, "I have no idea really, but I do wonder... why did Shirley add cooking oil to the cake."

Rivalz's shout of "WHAT?" was drowned out by the sound of an explosion that sounded like it came from the kitchen where they had been cooking.

"SHIT!" Both boys yelped.

Hurriedly drying themselves off, Suzaku and Rivalz, threw on their clothes haphazardly and charged towards the kitchen, fearing the worst.

Oil was never ever supposed to be added to the fruit cake, and it turned pout to be surprisingly combustible in the extremely hot oven. By the time Suzaku and Rivalz had reached their destination, the oven, along with the whole room was on fire. Needless to say, the accursed cake was blazing merrily away to make the inferno grow.

Worse still, the school sprinkler system was on the blink.

The boys looked at one another.

"We've got to call the Fire Brigade!", they cried and they ran off, warning everyone to get away from the building as they went.

Miraculously, the whole school was not burnt down, like some people had thought. The smoke cloud caused by all the burnt food and appliances was visible all the way in the downtown districts. Even staff in the Government building could see small whiffs of smoke.

Milly wailed at the thought of the costs to repair the building. She really missed her slave.

Meanwhile, in the massive Government Building, Lelouch spotted the the smoke rising quite easily from his vantage point of the Vice-Governor's office.

"Milly is hopeless without me isn't she?" The Prince sighed.

"No kidding." Kallen stared wide eyed at the soot rising in the distance, "She should not have gone through so much trouble just for me."

Lelouch vi Britannia, looked away from the sight of the city to take in Kallen's form.

Decked out in a full Knight's uniform, Kallen looked very smart, and was dazzling sight to behold indeed, in the Prince's eyes. The only variation in her uniform from the standard was the coloration, which was a far cry from the typical white-gold style. Kallen's uniform was almost completely black, with silver trimmings.

A design that invoked a subtle reminder of the Black Knights uniform.

Kallen's uniform was of course designed by Lelouch's and speedily tailored by the Royal Seamstresses. The Eleven Ace still had trouble in believing that a group of people could sew up such an elaborate piece of apparel in just a few hours.

Whilst Kallen mused on the amazing abilities of Britannia's tailors, Lelouch's eyes were starting to wonder all over his Crimson Lotus' form, and he was enjoying every minute of it. Though Lelouch would never tell anyone that he had actually taken an interest in a girl.

It took a while, but Kallen finally felt Lelouch's eyes on her and hissed venomously, "Stop staring you damned pervert, or else you be in trouble from me!"

To add effect to her warning, she drew her sword, which was another talking point.

The blade was a katana, a _Japanese_ sword. Not some fancy Britannian broad sword or rapier that many Royal Knights took up. It would be a bit weird during the Knighting ceremony, but Lelouch knew his Knight would prefer not to have too much to do with Britannia, including the use of a Britannian blade.

The Black Prince was jolted out of his deep thoughts when the sound of Kallens boots clicking against the floor was right in front of him, and Lelouch focused his sight to find himself face to face with a sword and the certainly enraged red head wielding it.

Lelouch backed up hastily to the wall, "What are you doing Kallen! There's no need to get violent!"

Unfortunately, Kallen's mind had interpreted Lelouch's sentence the wrong way, and she just got even angrier. Lelouch would later consider searching for a book on how to handle dangerous situations with hormonally charged, weapon totting teens. He was not handling the problem very well.

Lelouch would also have to thank his elder sister, Cornelia, and buy her a new gun for saving his ass. Cornelia _had_ walked into the room to pass a message to the duo and in doing so, diffused the emotional bombs.

"The ceremony's starting soon Lelouch you shou- what are you doing with my brother, Major?" Cornelia li Britannia inquired sternly, using Kallen's newly given rank.

Kallen seemed to snap out of a daze as she looked at her sword, then at Lelouch, and back to Cornelia. Realizing what she had done in an instant, the Crimson Lotus hastily sheathed her sword and backed away, laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. Inwardly, Kallen was screaming at herself, _DAMN why did I react like that?_

Lelouch had meanwhile, turned beet red, and was also scolding himself mentally, _Why did I even let my eyes wander around! I cannot believe I let my instincts take control!_

Cornelia looked at the two flushed faces for a moment, and sighed in resignation. What was she going to do with these two self denying love birds. From what the Witch of Britannia had heard from Nunnaly and Euphie, Lelouch had stupidly fallen head, right over his heels for the red head, and said red head was still desperately trying to avoid the truth and fool herself.

_And I used to think I had love issues when I was their age... I hope I didn't think that aloud._ Cornelia set a neutral face again and spoke cordially, "Lelouch, Kallen Stadtfeld, both your presences are required right now for the Knighting ceremony."

Then, after some thought, Cornelia gave in to the temptation and smirked, "I would also advise the both of you to refrain from rough and or masochistic public displays of affection. It would be detrimental to the reputation of Britannia."

Cornelia turned and left, holding back peals of laughter after seeing Lelouch turn purple and Kallen managed to choke on her own air. The Witch of Britannia would never live it down if someone caught her laughing merrily instead of being the serious and vicious female commander of Britannia.

"Let's go." Lelouch ground out, heading silently out the office, with Kallen following mutely.

A short while later, Kallen was darkly contemplating the discrimination of Numbers by Britannians.

Suzaku was Knighted in a relatively small reception hall which was not very grand by Britannian standards. Not many people had attended the event and the atmosphere was unfriendly, since the Nobles present were very unhappy that a Numbers was to be Knighted.

Kallen on the other hand, was being Knighted in the Grand Hall, where she had kicked Luciano Bradley's ass, as Gino would _eloquently_ put it. Nobles from all over Area 11 and even outlying Areas were present. Most were present to try and curry Lelouch's favor, but they happy and were there nonetheless.

Whilst Suzaku's Knight Ceremony was mainly aired in only Japan, Kallen would be made a Knight before the eyes of all in Britannia's sphere of influence. Even some Chinese Federation and Euro Universe media groups had gone through the trouble to get recording permits to the event.

The EU and the Federation of course were more interested in investigating how big of a threat Kallen would be to them. No rival to the world's greatest superpower would be foolish enough celebrate their enemy's fortune in finding a strong warrior.

Taking a deep breath, Kallen stilled her nervous self. Checking one last time to see if her uniform was badly wrinkled, the Crimson Lotus nodded to the man standing besides the great doors.

"Announcing the arrival of Lady Kallen Stadtfeld of the Stadtfeld House!" The chief announcer called out, cursing his misfortune of having to do the same job, in the same room, with as many people as the day before. He wasn't getting paid enough to lose his voice, period!

Once again, Kallen felt the oppressive aura the Nobles were giving off, pressing down upon her. This time there was no Nunnaly to help, no friends to give unseen comfort. Even her own Noble family, which she did not acknowledge, was giving off the same stifling aura.

Cornelia, Schenizel, and their men were giving of neutral auras that neither calmed nor panicked the red head, but it definitely did not provide much comfort to the very uncomfortable Kallen.

The only one in the room who could make Kallen feel a lot better was seated nicely at the end of the Great Hall, upon a much smaller throne than the one present the day before. Lelouch vi Britannia.

Meanwhile, Lelouch had tried to, and failed to stop staring at Kallen. _Damn it! Must get a hold of myself. I must look like a fool!_ Lelouch hurriedly wiped a small smile off his face to favor the typical expressionless facade, _Calm is what I require right now._

"You may approach the throne." Lelouch intoned solemnly, doing a great impersonation of his father's impassive face from the day before.

_Okay... you can do this Kallen. Even steps... even breathing... neutral and formal face... argh who am kidding! I must look like an idiot to everyone else with all my panicking! _Kallen kept up her mental tirade as she made her way mechanically, in her own opinion, towards her only available source of comfort.

In the eyes of the viewers around the world however, people saw an upright young woman marching smartly towards the throne. A fighter who looked like she had been bred for war. To the Britannians, she was the perfect example of their superior breed of fighters.

To the Black Knights, she was one hell of a mole, digging into the ranks of Britannia for the sake of Zero, and Japan.

To the rest of the world, Kallen Stadtfeld looked like she was starting to turn out as trouble for them. Trouble with a capital 't', and one that needed to be dealt with if possible.

As Kallen closed in on Lelouch, her anxiety slowly ebbed. She was almost by Zero's side now, where she always felt she belonged

When Kallen finally came in front of Lelouch, staring into his eyes for a moment. Lelouch caught sight of the firm determination in her eyes that had overtaken the nervousness, and almost smirked. Kouzuki Kallen was a fighter who always would do her best in every situation after all. She would give a good 'show' to the Nobles.

"Please kneel" Lelouch prompted formally, and Kallen swept into a graceful genuflect.

The Stadtfelds swelled visibly with pride at the sight of their daughter on the precipice of greatness.

"Kallen Stadtfeld, do you wish to accept the responsibilities of Knighthood, and fight as a Champion of Britannia?" Secretly and without any person or camera noticing, Lelouch then added, "And Japan."

Kallen smirked. Lelouch really was trying to do his best to make her feel better about joining his crazy scheme.

"Yes, your Highness." Kallen spoke out, loudly and clearly for all to hear.

The Black Prince continued neutrally, "Do you pledge yourself to be the sword and shield of the Empire, devoted to its greater good?" _Now this is a really interesting part of the oath if I do say so myself, _Lelouch smiled inwardly, _Kallen could be devoted to Britannia's greater good by killing a couple of useless, corrupt Nobles._

"Yes, you Highness." Kallen repeated.

The Knighting Ceremony was almost done. Kallen drew her sword and held its handle out to Lelouch, with its tip poised before her heart. That's when people finally began to take notice of the weapon. Murmurs began to flit around the once silent room.

"Isn't that a Japanese sword?" Whispered a young and curious Noble.

"What is my daughter doing with a barbarian weapon!" Missus Stadtfeld hissed quietly.

"This is unbelievable! Prince Lelouch vi Britannia is allowing his Knight to take a sword made by Numbers as her personal weapon?" An EU reporter spluttered most unprofessionally into his microphone.

Ignoring the chatter, Lelouch took the sword from his Knight's hands, raised the blade and touched the epaulets of Kallen's uniform as the young lady bowed her head in respect.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, hereby dub thee Dame Kallen Stadtfeld." Lelouch spoke with an air of finality.

Lelouch presented the weapon to Kallen, who swiftly received the blade and slid it back into its sheath swiftly. Wordlessly, Kallen stood, and turned when Lelouch swept his arm out to the crowd.

Both were met with stunned silence. Everyone was too shocked by Kallen's choice of sword.

_Clap... Clap... Clap..._

A single pair of hands came together to give some much needed noise to the deafening silence. Kallen looked in surprise to find the Prime Minister of Britannia, Schenizel el Britannia applauding quite heartily, and smiling approvingly. Cornelia joined in next, with a knowing smile on her face. Their aides followed their masters' leads immediately.

Hardly a moment later, the whole hall of Nobles hastily snapped out of their dazes to join the growing applause all over the Area. If the Prime Minister and the Witch of Britannia approved of such a choice by Dame Kallen Stadtfeld, then they had better accept it too. There were true stories of how badly people ended up by getting into the bad books of Britannia's most influential figures.

Black Knights from every corner of Japan cheering for their comrade, and for the fact that she still held to her Japanese roots by taking a katana with her.

The Japanese people were celebrating the fact that a Britannian Knight acknowledged and preferred Japanese arms over her local ones, whilst the EU, along with the Federation, had no idea what to make of it.

_Now here's where everything begins. _Lelouch, Schenizel and Cornelia shared the same thought for that one instant.

As the applause came to a stop, Lelouch rose from his seat, clasping on his cloak as he did so. With his recently re-donned black cloak, people took notice of how he looked like a perfect match with his black clad Knight. The crowd wondered, _what is happening now?_

"Now that this Knighting Ceremony is over, I shall now make a few announcements on behalf of Governor Cornelia." Lelouch spoke cordially, glancing at his elder sister, who nodded.

"And there is no need for our foreign guests to leave. This is not a major announcement, or a declaration." Schenizel added, with a mysterious smile as guards moved to usher the EU and Federation reporters off.

Once the guards had backed off again, and everyone's attention was focused solely on Lelouch, he continued, "By order of the Governor, the Number's system within Area 11 is to be abolished!"

It was like a jet plane had come crashing into the hall. Absolute pandemonium broke out as Nobles started asking questions. The reporters started to lose all form of professionalism and act like crazy headless chickens. But Lelouch was not going to stop just yet.

"Further! A new system of governance will be installed! The Japanese people will have control over _all_ of the Area's government sectors! The only exceptions to this are the posts of the Governor and Vice-Governor, along with any government sectors, pertaining to the resource, Sakuradite, which will remain under Homeland jurisdiction!" Lelouch roared over the racket.

"This is insanity! The Emperor would-" The Treasury Secretary was cut off.

Schenizel had stepped in, "His Majesty, has given his explicit permission in this matter as a test to see if this Area is now ready for self governance as a colony. It is a special case, which will not happen again if the Japanese fail to prove their capability."

It was a rather open and plain statement for the Prime Minister to make, but it suited his purposes just fine. It would give the Nobles a good interpretation; they could get their power back if they could wrest it from the Japanese, and that meant secretly rebelling to destabilize the Japanese government sectors to make it seem like they were incompetent

Stupid Nobles never even realized they had fallen right into a trap.

Lelouch _wanted_ the rebellions. It would indeed destabilize Japan, and to the EU or Federation, it would become a tantalizing target. Japan did have 70 percent of the world's Sakuradite.

_Large prey require large bait_, Lelouch smirked.

The other superpowers were sure to have received the news by now and would definitely be plotting away to take the Land of the Rising Sun. They just did not know that a full Britannian division, fully equipped with the latest technology was being discreetly placed in secret installations all over the country to handle such an invasion.

Both superpowers also did not know that Lelouch planned to seek the Black Knight's assistance to assist in holding off the enemy attack. Even Britannia's division would never hold off the more numerous forces of the Federation or the Euro Universe. The Black Knights were more than capable of doing such a thing, provided they had enough funding and the technology. Both, of which the Prince would certainly provide.

And if all went Lelouch's way like it usually did, the Japanese would even get credit for doing something which Britannia had never done. Conquering the Chinese Federation.

It would force the Homeland to acknowledge the Japanese people even more, resulting in the increased freedom for the Japanese people. By that time, Japan should even be strong enough to wrest itself out of Britannia's grasp to clinch its freedom. But first, one other objective had to be dealt with to make all the later plans be useful; weeding out the corrupt Nobles in Area 11.

"The Prince and his Knight must have been poisoned by the Elevens during their stay with them!" Screamed a Lady.

"And their poison is now spreading throughout Britannia!" Shouted an Earl.

"I will not let you do such a thing!" Cried a zealous Britannian, who whipped out a knife and charged straight for Lelouch. Funny how no one dared to charge his siblings, Lelouch noted that he needed to establish a better reputation for himself amongst the Nobles.

Prince had a gun that he could have used to defend himself, but he did not even need to lift a finger. The same could be said for the guards, who were probably incapable of stopping the would be assassin anyway.

Kallen had ran up to the assassin wanna-be in four strides, grabbed his arm and wrenched it into an impossible position for a human joint to be in. The man's elbow popped out with a surprisingly soft and wet sound, but he went down with a glass shattering squeal of pain. For a moment, Lelouch had a strange thought run through his mind, _Why couldn't Kallen do a spinning kick like Suzaku?_

"Guards!" Schenizel called calmly.

The few Nobles who had rashly spoken out were rounded up and cuffed in seconds. Their enraged cries had quickly turned into placating cries for mercy. But they were already doomed. They had questioned the decision to give more freedom to the Japanese, and in turn, the honor and integrity of the Royal Family. It was treasonous.

It was only punishable by death.

Now, the guards finally proved themselves to be useful in a task, by dragging the dissidents away roughly.

As the screams of the damned faded, Lelouch smirked, as he prepared for his _own_, next move.

_Now it's time to pay Schenizel and Cornelia back for what they did to me yesterday!_ Lelouch thought evilly as Kallen saw Lelouch's smirk and started to head out of the Grand Hall in a slightly rushed gait.

Sensing Lelouch's malicious side appearing as well, Cornelia hastily bade farewell and swept out of the chambers with her men. She was lucky to have escaped in time.

Schenizel's instinct seemed to have failed him however, and he remained where he was.

Later, the Prime Minister would wonder why he could have possibly made such a terrible decision.

Cursing at having missed the opportunity to get his elder sister, Lelouch calmed himself by settling for his brother. Turning to the pale crowd, he smiled and informed them, "I will need to take my leave now too, but I can assure you that the Prime Minister will be able to answer all your questions."

Without further pause, the Black Prince had rushed right out the door with a much speed as possible, while still looking Princely. Now, it was Schenizel's turn to be left with the rabid reporters. Only this time, he was going to have to contend with the questions of the Nobles as well. _I should have guessed you would do this Lelouch..._ Schenizel sighed as he was mobbed by a furious tirade of questions.

It was times like these that Schenizel wished he had listened to his siblings' advice and gotten himself a Knight to ward off the crazy people, rather than relying on next to useless guards.

So Schenizel was stuck with handling the torrent of questions over the next three hours. However, he could not answer one of the questions; where did the Prince, Lelouch vi Britannia go?

The Prince in question, was standing before a young man in a jail cell. A teen who identified himself as Rolo Haliburton over a month ago. Rolo had been shackled to the wall of a prison cell in the gallows since then, awaiting execution.

But because he was so stubbornly refusing to reveal any information on the Geass Directorate, which the Royalty in Area 11 desperately wanted to know, his date with the firing squad was repeatedly delayed again and again. Even the interrogators were tearing their own hair out, because the boy would only repeat two sentences no matter what kind of torture or questioning he was put under.

"I have nothing to say." and "Just kill me, I am worthless now anyway."

Rolo felt the presence of someone outside his cell and tagged the person as one of the usual interrogators who was there for the weekly torture session. Sighing, Rolo used his usual sentence, "I have nothing to say."

The reply was of course, completely unexpected.

"And I do not need you to say anything, Rolo Lamperouge." Lelouch spoke with as kind of a tone he could muster.

Just out of Rolo's field of vision, Kallen restlessly awaited Lelouch's return, or call for assistance.

Kallen already knew of Lelouch's most wacky idea to date, but she still could not shake off her doubts over this venture. Lelouch was trying to turn one of the deadliest opponents he had ever faced into his ally, something which most, if not all people were never likely to do. Kallen was also afraid of Rolo's Geass.

The Power of Absolute Suspension could let Rolo kill anyone he wanted, and the person would never realize it till they were already dead. It was a terrifying skill, and one which Kallen was reluctant to have on the loose, since it could threaten the lives of Nunnaly, Suzaku, her other friends. Lelouch would be placed in great danger too.

Kallen slapped herself lightly. _What am I thinking! While I'm on the job even! Focus Kallen!_ The red head was finding it more and more difficult to keep her thoughts from straying to Lelouch. Kallen knew the symptoms. Her mother had told her all about them long ago.

She was falling like an idiot for Lelouch, and from what she saw from Lelouch's reactions to her, he had fallen for her too. It was really sad the both of them were fighting the attraction tooth and nail.

Kallen forcefully wrenched her mind back onto business, but paid the price in attentiveness. Whilst she had been wondering about her next call to Ougi, or looking forward to her party, or finding a way to get her Guren back, Kallen had completely lost track of time.

One hour later, Kallen was startled by the clinking of metal chains falling to the ground, and she panicked, _Shit! What if Rolo..._ Kallen forced herself not to finish the thought as she ran towards the cell where the assassin and Lelouch were.

Only to find Lelouch and Rolo walking out, both perfectly unharmed. Lelouch even had a rather satisfied smile on his face, while Rolo just looked apprehensive about something.

Kallen's could have sworn her jaw had hit the floor due to her shock.

"Oookay... What's going on?" Kallen cocked her head quizically.

Lelouch did not give her the answer she wanted. The Black Prince simply smiled that, I -will-tell-you-later, grin and called for the Guards to get... a set of Ashford Academy clothes for Rolo... Lamperouge?

It took Kallen a minute to actually digest what Lelouch had said, but when she did, the Crimson Lotus blow her top off with great aplomb, "What the hell are you playing at Lelouch! Rolo _Lamperouge_? Attending Ashford Academy? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?"

"Um... excuse me?" Said the jailer, who seemed to have shrunken by at least a good ten centimeters after hearing Kallen's furious shouting.

Kallen could see Lelouch's smile turning into his patented teasing smirk. She was _so_ going to get a ribbing from him for losing control later.

_Why did I sign up for this... _Kallen cried in the depths of her soul...

Elsewhere, in a meeting hall within the Vermilion Forbidden City, the heart of the Chinese Federation, news from Japan was being dissected by the High Eunuch and the top Generals.

The High Eunuchs were laughing their ugly heads off at their foolishness in actually considering to wed the Empress to a Britannian Prince to gain Britannia's favor. Why would they want to make such a deal with a nation, which looked to the whole world like it was now preparing to rend itself apart with internal strife.

Plans were going to be changed drastically. No longer would they be seeking to be allied with Britannia, no at all. They could plan to, and take the soon to be highly unstable Japan, and from there, use its vast Sakuradite reserves, which Britannia relied on so much, and bring the world greatest superpower down to its knees!

By doing so, the Federation would then become the greatest and indisputable power house. The EU would be nothing more than child's play, and could then be taken, either through diplomacy, or by force.

Why take Britannian Noble-ship, when you could take the world after all.

Some of the Generals however, had their doubts. Sadly the Eunuchs were pretty much decided on the course of action, and had enough military support to force their plans into effect. It did not matter what the Empress felt, she had no power.

Of course, it never stopped Li Xingke from trying to reason with the delusional High Eunuchs. An upright figure, who represented all whose loyalties lay with the Empress, rather than the sniveling swine known as the Eunuchs, Li Xingke could feel a sense of foreboding in his body.

If his country invaded Japan, it would bring the end of his beloved nation. Li could just tell.

In all the times he had studied Zero, and then in recent times, Lelouch vi Britannia, he had felt the same sense of sheer cunning and ruthlessness in both men. Zero was never one to be trifled with, utterly crushing Britannia's long standing image of invincibility with a group which could barely be called an army, he would have proved to be a dangerous foe to the Federation if both sides ever went head to head.

Li could tell Lelouch was the same kind of person as his masked counterpart. He was willing to bet the Prince had planned the chaos in Japan as a bait for the Federation to bite. Li did not know how Lelouch planned to do so yet, but he certainly knew the Black Prince would have something up his sleeve. It was simply too coincidental for Lelouch to have made such an announcement of monumental proportions and be careless enough to let Eu and Federation reporters be present.

"I do not agree with this course of action." Li spoke aloud, silencing the hall of officials. Li might have been unpopular in the court, but his reputation as the smartest general made sure he would definitely be heard.

Zhao Hao, the obese Eunuch scoffed, "And why would you say so, Li Xingke?"

"I believe it is a Britannian trap." Li's eyes narrowed, "From what I have learned on this new Vice-Governor of Area 11, this Lelouch vi Britannia, he is a cunning adversary who is not above using tricks like these."

Gao Hai, the youngest Eunuch, spoke up next in his simpering tone, "But you have no proof, no?"

Li clenched his fist. It was always the same thing. Every time anyone tried to dissuade the Eunuchs from doing something, they would ask for proof if there were any bad effects that could rise from the situation. Without proper support, he could never win this argument.

"No." Li ground out.

The argument was lost once again.

As the evil Eunuchs continued scheming, Li had left with his few but faithful allies. His faithful aide, Zhou Xianglin, came up to him as he exited the chambers and whispered cautiously into her commander's ear, "The meeting went poorly I suppose, General?"

"Indeed, we must do something about this, lest we let our beautiful nation be torn to shreds by this Lelouch vi Britannia. I can feel it!" Li hissed.

Thus, it was on that very night that Li began to plot to overthrow the High Eunuchs for the sake of the Federation, and his Empress.

Deep within the depths of the Gobi desert, V.V. was reclined on a couch, sipping on a glass of blood red wine. He smirked.

So what if Rolo had failed and was probably dead. Lelouch's foolish plan to take the Chinese Federation would provide more than enough chances to use his other agents to get rid that wretched Empress Marianne's son. Then, once Nunnaly had been dealt with, he and Charles could be alone together again.

V.V.'s vicious laughter could be heard throughout the hidden facility.

Elsewhere, in the confines of his office aboard the Avalon, Schenizel was deep in thought. His initial plans to create the weapon of mass destruction, FLEIJA to rid the world of warfare were now in jeopardy of being destabilized by his own brother.

Schenizel was no fool. He could tell Lelouch was ultimately aiming for the throne of Britannia, but it was not to be for the simple purpose of power. The Prime Minister could tell Lelouch was trying to do the same thing he was, just in a different way, with a slightly different result. The question was, should he step back and let his brother continue, or should he stop his brother, which would likely lead to the necessity of killing his own sibling.

_My dear brother... Lelouch... You have made things truly complicated_, Schenizel sighed.

The coming year of Ascension Throne Britannia 2018 was going to be a very long one indeed.

_TBC_

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_From the Author: Well, that's all for now. I will try to update more regularly, but I never knew I could get so busy at all. Hope you have enjoyed this chapter though._

_As with the last story, Flame and Criticisms will always be accepted. Just do not include cussing._

_P.S. I am wondering... since the Ideas have told me to avoid killing Shirley... I need some assistance for her pairing. The Ideas have failed me at this point... Therefore, here are more polls, this time for Shirley's boy! Pairings stated in reviews are also accepted, but don't write down Lulu's name please. He's already had to split himself for C.C. and Kallen._


	2. Building Relations

_From the Author: Sorry for the very late update. I know I haven't updated in almost half a year. Lots of work and a nasty writer's block that came with it were pretty damaging. Lots of Ideas died to fight off this malicious Block to get this Chapter out, though seeing as this is a bit rushed, I do hope you, the reader will still enjoy this installment. Onwards with the story!_

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Building Relations

Ever since Prince Lelouch vi Britannia's sensational move to increase the Japanese's freedom, the news had somehow reverted to its typical reports during the Black Rebellion. Mass murders, Sabotage and Terrorism became the most common occurrences all over the nation yet again.

Of course, the biggest difference was that the Britannians were responsible for the terrorism, not the Japanese.

Former Black Knights throughout the land were raising hell with their commanders, crying out for vengeance, but again and again, they were rejected. Todou, Ougi, and the rest of the leaders knew better than to simply start attacking. They needed to find out if the Black Prince really was trying to help the Japanese, and the rebellions were not some elaborate ruse to catch the Black Knights.

Kallen herself had given her word that Lelouch would not betray them if they were to act, but her extended stay with the Prince in question made it very hard for the Black Knights to trust her.

So the Britannian forces within Japan who swore their loyalties to Lelouch had had to struggle over the first month of 2018, and into February against their own people. Sadly, those who were loyal were very few indeed, and the enemy was growing steadily stronger with each passing week. It was only a matter of time before the situation went zooming past its boiling point.

That day, was Valentines Day.

Britannian Insurgents had managed to hijack the bus that Nunnaly vi Britannia was on. The little Princess had been out on a field trip with her class, accompanied by Shirley Fenette and her bodyguard Rolo.

Shirley was on the bus because the School President, Milly Ashford had 'nicely' coerced her into looking after the younger girls and boys. Of course, she was also there to keep Nunnaly calm, seeing as the little Princess was terrified of Rolo, whom she knew was the one who had very nearly murdered her brother.

Now, as Shirley sat upon the cold floor of the bus, trying to calm the crying younger students, she struggled against her own fears.

Rolo was unconscious, knocked out by a rubber bullet to the head when an Insurgent got a lucky shot off before the former assassin slaughtered them. Currently, his bruised head was rested on the lap of Nunnaly.

The Princess herself seemed to be managing her own fear extremely well, seeing as a Sakuradite bomb was now strapped over her back, and that she had been thrown to the floor harshly when the insurgents had ripped her wheelchair from under her.

_Oh how I wish I could have Nunnaly's presence of mind..._ Shirley crushed a rising desire to let out a sob. Briefly, she tried to tell herself that it was all a dream, but Shirley _knew_ better than to have such wishful thoughts.

The word 'normal' was something that one could never expect once they became associated with Lelouch vi Britannia and his kin. Shirley was no exception. From the moment she had come to befriend and for a while even crush on the Black Prince, Shirley Fenette had been plunged into a world of illegal dealings and chess games involving sums which had boggled her young untainted mind.

Then, as Lelouch began to take part in the Black Knights, Shirley had nearly murdered, been murdered, manipulated, and essentially learned that her perfect world was far from the utopia she had made it out to be. All because of Lelouch.

Sometimes,Shirley would wonder if she could just go to the Motherland, leave everything behind. Start a new life. The orange head did not need so much action and drama in her life.

_Well DAMN! I don't think I can even handle this stress!_ A lone tear leaked out and ran down Shirley's cheek._ Why didn't I just go back to Britannia?_

Clicks issued from the insurgents' hands, snapping Shirley out of her reverie, and causing her to look up. They were cocking their guns, and from the looks of their faces, things weren't going to go well for herself and her fellow hostages. Nunnaly was sitting ramrod straight now, her frame quivering slightly with fright.

What little view of the outside world also told her that it was high noon, a couple of hours since they had been hijacked during mid-morn. _No...no way... the negotiations can't have broken down so quickly!_

A terrorist was shouting into a cell phone now, he was talking to Lelouch vi Britannia and his elder sister, Cornelia.

"This is your last warning brats! You'll return Area 11 to Noble rule and resign from your positions as members of royalty, following which, you will be executed publicly to serve as a reminder for those who would dare think of soiling Britannia's name. If you don't answer to our demand, you know the consequences!" The apparent leader raved, spittle spraying out in all directions.

Muffled tones were all that Shirley heard of Lelouch's reply, but it definitely did not make the terrorist any happier. He slammed the cell shut, and was now shouting countless expletives, causing the Nunnaly's classmates to shrink further in fear.

The terrorist leader took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then, he cast a dark glance at Shirley, who recoiled.

"Since the damn Prince is so hard to crack..." The man smirked, and began to make his way slowly towards Shirley, who realized his intent, to her own great horror.

"Let's see if he'll keep his cool if one of his dear friends gets _hurt_!" He pounced.

Shirley knew she could not let the man have his way. But what was she to do? The terrorists could shoot any of her charges if she tried anything funny. Rolo and Nunnaly were at least still relatively safe since they carried more value to the terrorists unharmed. There was only one thing she _could_ do; close her eyes, hope it ended quick and not remember anything.

_Chink_ was the only sound Shirley heard before a limp body came barreling into her, and small streams of something hit her form.

The weight of the man crushed her onto the floor as the younger students started screaming hysterically. Hesitantly, Shirley pried her own eyes open, to see what was happening, only to see the supposed terrorist leader's body. A body that was conspicuously missing a head, and spurting blood all over the place.

Struggling to keep her bile from exiting her system, Shirley pushed the corpse off herself, and turned to look at a furious Kallen Stadtfeld, accompanied by two special operations troopers, who were standing in what used to be the doors of the vehicle, guns drawn and smoking.

The copious amounts of blood on Kallen's sword made it all too obvious as to who had saved her. Judging by the many bullet holes the remaining four terrorists had, they were pretty dead too

"Are you alright, Shirley?" Kallen rushed over to the shocked orange head and grabbed her by the shoulders, inspecting her for signs of abuse.

Meanwhile, the two special operatives were tending to Nunnaly and applying smelling salts for Rolo. Further off in the distance, the lights of ambulances and military units could be seen.

Kallen, satisfied that Shirley had not been physically harmed, turned her attention to the younger students, muttering quietly to the orange head, "I'm sorry you had to see that Shirley, but I could not let the hostages be harmed. It was what Lelouch asked me to do."

Shaking the last vestiges of shock from her system, Shirley rushed over to help Kallen, "How did you get on the bus anyway? The road was empty, so there'd be nowhere for you to hide if the terrorists did a check."

Kallen frowned lightly, "Well, the terrorists should have known not to park over a dumb manhole and let us sneak up on them. Sniping was too risky since we could accidentally hit one of you guys."

Fate really did not wish to give an easy time for the young females, and things went tumbling down the hill.

One special operative was removing the bomb stuck to Nunnaly, when his colleague suddenly put a round in his head. The operative slumped on the ground just as the other aimed his gun on a thoroughly surprised Kallen.

"Hmph. Even though we had to lose five men, they were pretty stupid anyway, so it's no big loss. Thanks to those oafs, we, the faithful sons of Britannia, have an even larger bargaining chip now." The black clad man sneered.

Kallen snarled.

"And don't think I'm that stupid, Knight! I've wired the manholes with mines to stop anyone else from foiling our plans. No one is going to save you, so hand me your weapons nice and slow... or I'll blow your precious Princess to bits." He hissed as he fished out a detonator.

With a small start, Shirley finally realized that the detonator had been missing since the start of the hostage situation. The first bunch of terrorists had been decoys, and they had not been carrying _any_ detonating device.

Shirley felt her hope plummeting into hell as Kallen slowly handed her weapons over. The soldier turned terrorist smirked as he confiscated the arms.

_Why can't I do anything!?_ That thought hit Shirley like a bolt of lightning. Was she so weak as to be unable to help her friends? No, she would be damned if she let herself die without a struggle.

In that moment that no one would ever have expected, Shirley charged the terrorist and punched him hard enough to pitch him onto the floor, and send the detonator sailing out of his grip. The man had been so shocked by the brazen move coming from such a meek looking girl that he almost didn't react.

Almost however, never means _did not_.

Shirley collapsed, blood leaking out of a punctured lung. Kallen swore loudly, and rushed the terrorist as he started to get back on his feet. The special operative swung his pistol to bear on Kallen's head.

_PHUT,_ a silenced pistol went off, unheard by all but the one who pulled the trigger. Kallen blinked in surprise as the final terrorist crumpled, dead.

Rolo panted harshly with exertion from using his Geass, smoke curling out of his weapon. Cursing himself for taking so long to wake up, and for failing Lelouch, he buried his pain, and moved to check on Shirley.

Just a minute later, the ambulances had arrived and the hostages were whisked off in the blink of an eye. The Royal Guards accompanying the medics helped remove the bomb, with Rolo's and Kallen's help, before they too were off to Tokyo's General Hospital...

Schenizel el Britannia was, not having a good day. He had come to Japan in his massive airborne warship, Avalon, to tell Lelouch that Britannia that an armored division was covertly on route to back the Black Prince up.

Unfortunately,Lelouch was not present to greet him, and neither was Cornelia. Instead, an aide informed Schenizel that Nunnaly vi Britannia had just been rescued from a hostage criss, and that the Governess and Vice-Governor were checking on the little Princess' safety.

Knowing that the health of a loved one always mattered more to Lelouch than the whole world, and that he himself was feeling some worry, Schenizel had opted to go to the hospital and meet the Black Prince.

Alas, the White Prince's misfortune did not end when he arrived at the hospital.

Lelouch vi Britannia had come charging right up in front of a rather surprised Schenizel, _begging_ him to donate some _blood_. In his powerful and calculative mind, Schenizel could not entirely understand why his younger brother would need _his_ blood. Nunnaly vi Britannia was of blood type _A, _whilst he was of blood type _B_.

Medically speaking, if Schenizel donated his blood to Nunnaly, who was the most likely recipient of the blood seeing Lelouch's distress, she would most assuredly die. Schooling his visage into one displaying infinite wisdom, Schenizel proceeded to foolishly state the all to obvious facts to Lelouch vi Britannia.

When Lelouch was angry, he could punch, really hard. Schenizel had never been more thankful to Cornelia, for restraining the enraged Black Prince while he was bent over, winded.

Schenizel absently brushed the spot where the needle had extracted a portion of his life fluids. _This Lady Fenette must be a very important person for Lelouch to get so angry... I do hope he does not turn out to be like Father... Lady Kallen and the strange green haired miss are more than enough already... _The White Prince heaved a great sigh.

His personal aide, Konan, was about to ask is his Highness was feeling fine, but a doctor interrupted with a polite and reverent smile.

"Excuse me your Highness, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for donating blood to a patient. These past few months have been extremely trying on us all, and our blood stocks for B-types were completely drained." The doctor was closely to hysteria now, "If Miss Fennete hadn't gotten that blood unit, she wouldn't have lasted till the next day, when our stocks get resupplied."

Schenizel smiled congenially, "That is perfectly fine doctor... But if I may ask, could you let me see this patient?"

The doctor seemed to have heard the question before, because he let out a polite chuckle, "Of course your Highness. Prince Lelouch just visited her. But I must warn you that Miss Fenette is still unconscious"

Schenizel fully expected the young woman to be out, it was natural since she got shot up pretty badly. Still, he was miffed by another thing, which the doctor had said, "Vice-Governor Lelouch left?"

The doctor's look was mirroring his now, "Why yes your Highness, Prince Lelouch left the building a few minutes ago after visiting Princess Nunnaly. He looked pretty busy."

The White Prince considered questioning the doctor further, but decided against it. When Lelouch disappeared he was too troublesome to find. Motioning for the doctor to move, Schenizel walked off towards Shirely Fenette's room, and a very big turning point in his life.

Whiteness. White was all that Shirley saw, as she floated in limbo.

Deep in the confines of her soul, she wondered why she was still alive. She had seen the news about the short supply of B-type blood units, and knew that if she had a nasty wound that needed a transfusion, she would be toast. So who could possibly have given her this life saving liquid? Surely not Lelouch, for though he greatly cared for herself, he possessed an AB blood type, and could not give his blood. Who was it?

Faint clicks suddenly began to tug her back to the lands of the living, but she resisted. She was so tired.

Then, Shirley felt a presence take a seat on her right. One that was radiating a strange aura which she could not describe or understand. She was confused, yet curious, and afraid at the same time. Her spirit tore past the veil of unconsciousness in time to hear her mystery visitor speak

"Miss Shirley Fenette I presume." The Blond head smiled, "My name is Schenizel el Britannia, the second prince of Britannia, and elder brother to Lelouch, who is currently courting you I believe..."

If Shirley had not been so tired, she would have groaned at the stupidity of this supposedly smart Prince and Prime Minister. Lelouch had never and would never court her, not when he already had to deal with Kallen and C.C..

"Even though I doubt you can actually hear me, I do hope my brother has been treating you well Miss Fenette." Schenizel went on, miraculously obliviously to Shirley's discomfort, as he remained seated by her side.

Privately, Schenizel wondered why he was sitting in a ward with a woman, all alone. He had ordered Konan and the doctors out barely a minute ago, and even requested for more guards to be positioned in the hospital premises. It was almost as if he was smitten with a girl who supposedly belonged to someone else.

_Doubt towards one's own sanity is usually one of the many signs that one's mental capacity is starting to slip..._ The White Prince sighed. _Perhaps I have outstayed my welcome..._

Schenizel started to get out of his seat...

"Please wait your Highness." Came the light voice of Shirley, shocking the White Prince to such an extent that he fell back onto his seat.

Schenizel felt a strange feeling surge into his cheeks, and he stuttered in an almost 'un-princely' manner, "Your awake Miss Fenette... I do apologize for interrupting your rest. I will take my leave."

Shirley nearly jumped out of her bed to stop the blond Prince as she whispered, "N-no , I do not mind you being here, not at all. I-I would like someone to talk to right now..." Inwardly, she was cringing in pain, and a bit of embarrassment from being so informal towards a Prince.

Happiness seemed to well up a little in the brooding and scheming Britannian Prime Minister, and for the first time. Deciding that staying would not cause harm to people's lives, he actually sat back down and had a lengthy conversation with a commoner on a topic other than politics or national affairs for once.

When Konan returned to bring his liege back to the Government Building after two hours, he found the typically gloomy and falsely joyful man chuckling wholeheartedly at one simple girl's experiences as a commoner. Valentines was really turning out to be a day when love lives were found.

Elsewhere, in Tamaki's Bar, Lelouch vi Britannia was seated in a comfortable plush chair, flanked by his Knight and his Witch at a fairly large table. Right in front of them, were some the leaders of the legendary freedom fighters, the Black Knights.

Absent from the meeting were Toudoh, and the Four Holy Swords, who were too far away to attend the conference, which had been set up on a very short notice. Zero was still uncontactable and thus, not present, although he had 'sent' C.C. as a representative. Still, the rest of the founding group of the Black Knights were present, from Ougi Kaname, the Second in Command, to Shinichiro Tamaki; Second Special Forces commander and number one Black Knight knuckle head.

Once everyone had settled into their seats, C.C. started off in her typical bored tone, "Now that we're all here, I will tell you all about the main topic of today, which is whether or not we, the Black Knights should provide aid to Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

"Hold one a sec. Why hasn't Zero decided by himself instead? Why is he leaving the decision to us?" Ougi spluttered. He had not been expecting C.C.'s statement at all, and from the look of the rest of the Black Knight management, none of them had either.

Zero had been a very assertive man who did thing his way many a time without considering the opinions of others after all.

Lelouch, playing his role as a perfect outsider, also gave his input, "Indeed, this is very strange Miss C.C.. Has something happened to him... or her?"

C.C. let out a harsh laugh, which sounded so real that Kallen nearly thought she was not acting at all, "Do not presume to guess about the well-being of Zero, boy. It was merely because Zero has already discharged the Black Knights from their duty that he does not wish to directly interfere."

The Black Knights present gasped in shock. They did not know that Zero had already removed himself from their fold.

It was Kallen's turn to join the show, as she gasped, "Why isn't Zero staying? What the hell does he have to do that prevents him fro-?"

"You will hold your tongue Kallen!" C.C. hissed and let anger 'slip' onto her visage, ever the perfect actress, "The both of us were closest to Zero, and you of all people should know how little time Zero has left. Let him enjoy the fruits of his labor while he still draws breath and stop trying to rely on him!"

The whole table, including Lelouch, who had to keep his act up, gasped in shock.

Kallen spluttered incoherently in a rather convincing manner whilst the Grey Witch continued her tirade.

"Zero laid down the foundations and brought our people back onto their feet. We have to rise up to the occasion, and make sure the Japanese _stay_ free, for all our sakes, or at the very least, Zero's sake." C.C. was putting up a really good show, with her furious expression and flushed face.

_If I had not been part of the plan, I would definitely have been fooled._ Lelouch and Kallen thought.

_Shit... I'm starting to think like Lelouch! _Kallen had to exercise a lot of restraint. It would not be good if she slapped herself at the moment.

_Why did I think that Kallen was sharing my sentiments..._ Lelouch banished the idea_ Nope, there's no way she could have the same opinion as me._

Only the best acting could be expected from someone who had lived through countless conflicts since medieval times.

The Black Knight leaders were at a loss for what to say. Ougi himself, was very shocked; he had always thought that Zero was still relatively young, from the sound of his voice. But the way C.C. had spoken of their Masked leader's short time left on Earth made him wonder if Zero was perhaps an old dying man.

C.C. must have seen Ougi thoughts running across his face, for she went off in another lecture, "And don't you dare think of Zero as some old and withered old fool. He merely was unfortunate to be born with a medical condition that is incurable."

Then, in a shocking reversal of moods, C.C. smiled ruefully, "Maybe it was Heaven's will that Zero would not be able to fully enjoy his works, simply to bring them to the Japanese."

_That_ had not been in the plan, but thinking in retrospect, Lelouch knew that C.C. rarely ever followed a role to the letter. Lelouch decided C.C.'s little side play did have some merits. It would force the Black Knight leaders to think by themselves, and hopefully let them see that the only way to saving Japan was through him, not his specter.

Bracing himself, Lelouch spoke in a solemn tone, "Whilst I will ask you to give Zero my best wishes, Miss C.C., I must insist that we return to the more pressing topic."

Everyone's attention returned to the Black Prince as he continued, "The Britannian Insurgents are growing stronger by the day, and my forces are simply too few to counter them. My brother, Schenizel, is sending an armored battalion to assist, but it is not enough to put down this insurrection. That battalion is largely made of rookies and tanks, with twelve Gloucester. Also..."

To the rest of the people in the room who were blissfully unaware of Lelouch's plots, the Prince was look was starting to turn into one of slight embarrassment.

"Not many people know this, but just this week, our latest reinforcement consisting of four mass-produced Seventh Generation Knightmares, the Vincents, were stolen." Lelouch whispered so softly that almost no one had been able to catch what he said.

Tamaki was the first to react, as usual, taking the chance to gloat at a Royal's 'discomfort'. "Hah! You were dumb enough to let something so important get stolen just like that? No wonder you need our help!" He guffawed.

"Shut it Tamaki!" Viletta's face was turning into a very serious visage. She had realized the dangerous implications of Lelouch's statement, and from the looks of the Black Knight leaders, they had noticed too.

"The Seventh Generation Frames are of the same Age as the Lancelot. It was even rumored that the White Reaper unit was used as a template for the newer mass producible Vincents. If the insurgents have their hands on _those_..." Minami voice teetered off.

Ougi finished the statement with a look of absolute horror, "The Insurgents could very possibly defeat the last strong form of resistance, the Lancelot, and take Japan's freedom away."

"That's right." Lelouch sighed dramatically, and slouched into his seat.

Tamaki finally began to catch onto the true severity of the situation, but his mindset still had him bent on putting the blame on the Black Prince, "The HELL!? Why'd you let them get it! We're doomed!"

There were so many times when Lelouch could have maintained control. But after dealing with so much stress for the day; nearly losing Nunnaly, Shirley, Kallen and a whole bunch of students, dealing with more paperwork, keeping the effects of the uprising to a minimum, Lelouch finally snapped.

And the Black Prince blew up spectacularly, "DO YOU THINK I WANTED TO LET THEM GET THE VINCENTS? DO YOU?"

The room fell into such deathly silence that even C.C. felt a bit unnerved.

"The lives of _millions,_ Japanese and Britannian alike are in peril due to my failure to protect them! Even my sister and closest friends nearly join the dead just today, and I already have over a _thousand_ casualties, and the bloody count rises with each passing day! You as a freedom fighter should now better!" Lelouch was on his feet, panting with effort to force his rage back down into the recesses of his heart.

Kallen jumped out of her seat and put her hand on Lelouch before he could start hurling some abuses, which would really send the 'negotiations' south. "It's not worth getting so worked up Lelouch, calm down. Please." Kallen leaned in and whispered quietly into her master's ear. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Think of it as a request from your Knight."

Lelouch cast a glance at Kallen, and closed his eyes to school his thoughts. His Knight's hand that rested on his shoulder was shaking almost imperceptibly, but he felt it. Kallen was worried for him, and in a way, he was grateful to her for her concern. Letting out a small sigh, Lelouch calmed himself down.

The Crimson Lotus and the rest of the room let out a breath that they had been unknowingly holding when Lelouch finally relented and sat down heavily on his seat.

All the while, Kallen was counseling her liege, C.C. nearly felt a pang of jealousy, and a tiny urge to say something snide towards her red-haired fellow. Fortunately, in her own opinion, she ruthlessly crushed the rising emotions before they even had the chance to grow. C.C. certainly knew how to nip things in the bud.

Deciding to take some form of control over the situation for Lelouch, C.C. coughed loudly to catch everyone's attention, and spoke in her typical bland business tone, "So, since we've all heard of the current state of affairs, I am going to call for a vote. All those in favor of assisting Prince Lelouch vi Britannia in ridding Japan of the Insurgents, please raise your hands."

Ougi gawked at her, "H-hold on! Isn't this a bit to soon to call for a vote?"

"Didn't you hear what the Boy Prince and I said. There is little time to act. We cannot waste time arguing over it now. I have decided to follow Zero's wishes, and help Lelouch vi Britannia, but it is up to yourselves if yo wished to do the same." C.C. shrugged liquidly, as she raised her hand up high to add to her point.

Kallen cut in before Lelouch even had the chance to open his mouth, and spoke in nearly the exact same manner as her Prince would have done, "As much as I hate to admit, this situation cannot wait any longer. As pressed as the Britannian Army is, we may not last for more than another month or two with the reinforcements. We really need the help."

_Wow... Kallen seems to be so much more mature... Is it because of the Prince? _Ougi, Minami and the rest of the more _level-headed_ founders of the Black Knights thought.

"Now, before we have anymore interruptions, can we actually finish this meeting off?" C.C. grumbled.

By the time the clock struck midnight, Lelouch vi Britannia was on his way back towards the Government Building alongside Kallen, and with the Black Knight's assurance of cooperation. With renewed access to the Sixth/Seventh generation Gekkas from the Black Knights, the tide of the battle could be turned, and he would regain a greater measure control over the situation.

For the moment, such plans for world peace slipped out of the Black Prince's mind, and he let his mind wander back onto the safety of his loved ones. Making a quick call to C.C. to take care of his office while he was absent, he ordered the driver to redirect the car towards Tokyo General Hospital.

Out in the dark depths of Tokyo's underground network, C.C. grumbled silently to herself as she rode her Gloucester back towards the Government Building with her escort of Geassed Sutherland jockeys and their frames...

Princess Nunnaly vi Britannia sat in her first class bed, all alone. She wondered, why her brother had rushed off so quickly, wondered if Shirley was fine. The Little Princess was essentially worrying about nearly everything and everything that had occurred today, and was resenting the loneliness she was currently feeling.

Nunnaly knew deep in her heart though, that she had no real right to feel bitter. Her brother and her many friends had toiled for so long for her sake, and some, like Shirley, had been hurt because of her. No, Nunnaly vi Britannia did not hate anyone other than herself, a useless Princess who was unable to to anything, except provide moral support.

"Ah... excuse me?" Came a light male voice that froze Nunnaly's insides.

Rolo had entered the room, and he was the last person that Nunnaly would have wanted to be with at the moment.

"Uh... What is it Rolo?" Nunnaly asked softly, barely keeping her own fear inside as she turned to face the general direction of the assassin.

Rolo's reply was unexpected, even to him. The words just came tumbling out before he even had the chance to stop himself, "I'm sorry Princess Nunnaly!"

The Little Princess' gave the only answer she could possibly have given, even though it was not the most eloquent that a person of her stature could give, "Huh?"

"I would like to apologize for failing in my duty to protect you and letting you and your friends get injured. As such, I would like to resign from my position." Rolo whispered in a pathetic manner.

Nunnaly had almost agreed instantly, but something was holding her back.

Sure, the Nunnaly of a few months ago would have let Rolo leave without a second thought, the notion of being with the one who nearly murdered her dear Brother was absolutely repulsive, even to her. But after some time with the broken tool, she realized the young man was as human as anyone else on earth. A boy who desperately searched for love and affection.

"Uh..." Rolo fidgeted nervously as he tried to find the right words to say.

"What on Earth are you doing here Rolo? Weren't you supposed to be in the Military Infirmary?" Came the imperious voice of Lelouch vi Britannia, who stepped into the ward with his faithful knight, Kallen Statdtfeld.

"Ah! I was just here to check up on Lady Nunnaly" Rolo spluttered, before rushing out the door.

"What was that all about?" Lelouch stared inquisitively at his beloved sister.

Nunnaly shrugged in a confused manner, "I don't know."

Outside Britannia's General Hospital, Rolo cast a slight glance at the ward where Nunnaly was in, and then walked off, disappearing into the dark streets of the city...

_To Be Continued_

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From the Author: Well, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter of The Black Prince. If possible, I would like to update more regularly, though the chances are probably slim.

_As usual, Flames and Criticisms are always accepted. Just make sure there is no cussing or sexual reference, and I will definitely listen to them._

_P.S.: Shirley got paired with Schenizel rather than Gino because some of my real life fellows voted too, off the net poll. Also, since Schenizel beat Gino by one vote with the new count, I refused to split Shirley like I did with Lelouch, and so, She ended up with Schenizel. If anyone is really against it, Just hope the Ideas tell me to give Schenizel a bad accident. If not, just hope they stay together. Until next time._


	3. Shifting Pieces

_From the Author: Hi! I know I'm gonna get fried for updating this so incredibly late (two years late!), but please forgive me. To clarify, I have been suffering the opposite of Writer's Block (I'll just call it Writer's Overload). I've been inundated with Ideas from other story-lines and really needed to sort them all out. But that tale is unimportant (unless you want to know). For now... onward with the story once more!

* * *

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_**Shifting Pieces**_

"_Please... I need it... please give it back... GIVE ME MY HEAD!"_

"ARGH!" Kallen thrashed about in her bed, trying to fight off a hideous monster that had grabbed her shoulders.

"_My head... give it... Give it back!... GIVE IT!" _a disembodied echoed endlessly from roughly where the man's mouth used to be.

"NO! I don't have it! St- STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Kallen shrieked hysterically.

It had been a week, and this headless man- no this _ghoul_- had been hounding her incessantly. Kallen had hardly even been able to sleep a wink since she had decapitated the man who had nearly murdered her friends. _Why... why can't you leave me alone!_ Kallen struggled even harder, but somehow, she could never budge the beast off of her.

Every single day, she had been tortured by this ghostly- this ghastly- vision of the headless assassin, whose blood would flow in a ceaseless deluge. Every day, she would struggle against its grip for what seemed like an eternity, only to jerk right off the bed to find a blood red dawn rising over Japan. The very rays of light were so vividly similar to blood that she would feel nauseous and weaker than she already was from the lack of sleep.

But tonight, she was just too worn and flustered. Too stretched by the endless stream of battles that she had to force herself through in defense of the Nation, from the cruel Insurgents. Too stressed by the fact that even with so many good men on their side, the bad guys had the technology to beat them back. It was too much.

Kallen snapped.

"Kallen!" That voice sounded vaguely familiar to the Crimson Lotus, but her mind was too incensed to realize that her supernatural assailant was no longer pressing her down, or that the man bent over her clearly had a head on his shoulders.

With the instant that she was no longer bound by the inhuman force, Kallen punched the shadow with all her might, ignoring its sharp yelp of pain and jumped right after it. Pinning the shadow down upon the cool carpeted floor of her bedroom, she drew the purse-knife she had always carried around raised it high, prepared to stab.

"KOUZUKI KALLEN!" Shouted the man in panic.

Kallen started, her knife arm jerking to a halt mere inches from the man's nose. A moment passed. Two.

The Crimson Lotus' breathing became ragged as she nearly hyperventilated upon realizing; She had nearly stabbed Lelouch vi Britannia, the only man who had the skill to lead the Britannian Army to victory against the rebels. Worse, she had nearly killed the man she lov- Kallen cut that train of thought down as her brain stopped functioning properly for a few seconds due to her shock.

Lelouch vi Britannia, the Black Prince, gingerly raised his right hand to grasp Kallen's knife wielding one and guided her hand away from his face. Once he was certain he was in no danger, Lelouch gently coaxed his Knight's hand to open, and snapped the knife back into its purse cover.

"Le-lelouch... I-" Kallen's eyes were threatening to overflow with tears. The grief and regret shining brightly through her deep blue irises. But she was valiantly holding it in.

Lelouch sighed. _I should have known. I should have noticed the signs; Her withdrawn and aggressive behavior towards everyone. Her lapses in attention. Her decreased performance on the field. Her dark eye bags... even the lack of a _glow_ to her. What a fool I've been._ Lelouch crawled up to Kallen. He needed to speak to her face to face.

"Why don't you share with me what troubles you." Lelouch whispered, his left hand reaching out tentatively to cup her cheek, only to see her shrink away. Kallen was clamming up again.

"I'm terribly sorry Prince Lelouch. I'll accept any punishment you-" Kallen's face was jerked back to look at Lelouch right in the eyes as the Prince grabbed her chin none too gently.

"Listen to yourself Kallen. This is not like you at all!" Lelouch hissed, his own temper rising as the pent up stress of the past week also began to surface within him, "I know it's a hard time for us all. I've been under stress too you know; The Black Knights are slow in getting back up and my men are taking a pounding. You're a key player. I can't have you fall to pieces Kallen!"

Kallen's mouth opened to give her own vociferous retort, only for Lelouch to squeeze her jaw with surprising force to silence her.

The Black Prince was not done, "I know what you're going to say; 'I'm human, not a chess piece.' 'I can't take it anymore'. Well Kallen, this isn't like the old days where you could just take a break from the escapades with Zero. This is a real _war_."

The Crimson Lotus slapped her Prince's hand away and snarled, "Then what would _you_ have me do? Or better yet, you're the 'Man of Miracles' aren't you? Why don't you just magic all my problems away huh? Why don't you use that Ge-"

_Slap_

Kallen raised her left hand to touch the spot where Lelouch had slapped her. Frankly, she was absolutely stunned. Of all the things she could ever have expected of the raven haired boy, it was never a slap.

"Geass is _never _the solution to a problem. Not counting the fact that it cannot work on you anymore, you are the last person I would want to cast it on for this sort of thing." Were her eyes deceiving her, or did Lelouch look like he was close to crying?

"Why?" was Kallen's simple question.

Lelouch stared deeply into her now confused and glazed eyes, "Because I know you're stronger than that. I know you can overcome these problems without a crutch known as Geass."

And then, Kallen found herself completely and utterly speechless as Lelouch enveloped her in a warm and heartfelt hug. _No damn it! I'm not gonna cry... I'm not gonna cry... I'm not gonna-_

"Let it out Kallen, that's an order." Lelouch's breath tickled her ear as he whispered softly and yet, firmly.

_Damn it. Damn... _The floodgates were torn asunder, and for the first time in ages, Kallen wept.

In the room next door, C.C. lay in her own luxurious bed, located right next to the currently empty bed of Lelouch vi Britannia. Even through the sound proofed walls, she was able to hear the muffled cries of the Crimson Lotus. This time, the Grey Witch could no longer hold in her own feelings of jealousy.

_Well maybe if you lost it too, Lelouch would comfort you. _Came a teasing thought.

The immortal threw the covers over her head and promptly did her best to go to sleep, shooting an irritated _shut up_ right back at her telepathic companion and shut off the link.

_Why, after countless decades... How could I possibly have become so _jealous.

C.C. was loathe to admit it, but even she knew that somehow, for no reason at all that she could comprehend, she had fallen for a man. Growling in absolute frustration, the witch curled up into a tight ball beneath her thick fur sheets, trying with all her might to block out the mental images of Lelouch comforting a distressed Kallen.

So bothered was the Grey Witch, that she failed to sense a second faint, but far more insidious, presence take its leave from the Sub-Viceroy's floor...

When the bright and chirpy rays of the sun first peeked through the curtains to land on her face, Kallen seriously did not want to get up. She had had the first long period of uninterrupted sleep since forever, without having to deal with midnight terror raids or horrific nightmares. The wondrously comfortable and warm pillow was an added welcome over her cold hard- _wait a sec... this isn't my pillow!_

The Crimson Lotus of Britannia bolted upright, throwing off the covers of her bed to find out who exactly was she sharing her bed with.

"I thought you were never going to get off me. Your head weighs a ton, Kallen" Lelouch grumbled as he retrieved his abused appendage and massaged it to get the blood flowing again. Evidently, he had been awake for some time before her.

The red-head stared dumbly at her Master for a few moments, until the memories of the night before came trickling back to her. "Oh, um... sorry about that" Kallen was struggling in vain to keep an intensely dark blush that would have rivaled the paint job on her Guren.

She had taken a good twenty minutes to tire herself out from crying, and a further three hours to sort out the entire issue of the headless haunting in her dreams. Kallen was not entirely surprised to learn that whilst Lelouch vi Britannia had murdered and had suffered the same ailment before, he never let it affect him for more than two days.

_His_ method with dealing with a particular bullet-ridden and horribly bloody apparition of his elder brother was actually quite simple; he played chess. Chess, Lelouch claimed, helped him to focus on the more important things, like the need to protect his loved ones and to destroy Britannia. This then helped him to lessen the pain and terror of old memories.

Sometimes, arguing with an Immortal who had centuries of experience was good too.

Finding out what Kallen liked best was easy enough. She loved to pilot Knightmares, something which she admittedly had not done much in the past week even when she had a lot of free time.

The objectives that she had to focus on were equally simple to figure out. Kallen wanted to help free Japan from oppression, and she wanted to create a peaceful environment for her friends, where they would not have to fear for their lives so often.

Kallen was a bit embarrassed with herself at the fact that she had not thought to seek help sooner, but instead chose to bottle up the emotions in a pressure cooker. She would have had another tearful bout too if Lelouch had not started teasing her for her lack of intelligence.

For the rest of the three hour 'therapy' session, Lelouch was subject to a vicious tickling/ pillow fighting round that saw him getting a nice bruise on the right arm. He really was too fragile for his own good. The Crimson Lotus had never ever seen a person get bruised just from a hard pillow hit.

The both of them had grown tired after that, and before she knew it, Kallen had drifted off into slumber land with Lelouch in her bed.

"I trust you had a good night's rest Kallen." Lelouch let out a small smug grin.

Blushing furiously, Kallen blurted, "W-well yes."

"Well then, I don't suppose you two could bloody well get to work." The duo's heads swung over to see a haggard looking C.C. standing in the doorway, "It's eight in the morning, and your phone's been ringing for the past five minutes Lelouch."

Eyes widened in panic as the Black Prince realized the severity of C.C.'s statement. His private phone was only used when an attack had occurred. Scrambling to disentangle the bedsheets, Lelouch started for the door.

_Bring!_

Kallen lunged for her own private phone and picked up the receiver, "This is Major Stadtfeld here- eh? WHAT? B-bu-but we weren't- o-o-okay. Sir! General Darlton's on the line."

Lelouch would have probably been curious as to why his Knight was redder than a tomato, and why his Grey Witch was greener than spinach, but he was in business mode right now, marching right up to Kallen to take the handset from her, "How bad is it Darlton."

On the other end of the line, in the Saitama Garrison, General Andreas Darlton spoke in his typical gravelly tones, "Actually my Lord, we were trying to get confirmation of your knowledge on this particular action we're seeing right now."

"What exactly are you talking about General?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow.

"The Insurgents just launched an assault against the Shizuoka Ghetto in an effort to gain a foothold for a strike at Towkyo, but the Britannian troops dispatched to the area report the presence of the Black Knights in the region. The four Holy Swords have also been sighted." Darlton elaborated.

The Black Prince cast a victorious grin at his two partners before refocusing on his sister's servant, "I'm glad that they responded so quickly after the negotiations. Relay this order to the troops Darlton; the Black Knights are to be classified as allies. Be sure to calibrate the IFF systems for that."

If the Knight of Cornelia had any questions, he kept them to himself. It would not do for him to question his superiors orders at a time like this. Besides, having the Black Knights as allies would go a long way in helping them put down the Insurgency. Darlton's personal experience fighting against the rag-tag group of freedom fighters had been nothing short of nerve-wracking.

Black Knights were terrible enemies to have.

Turning to face his men, the General barked, "We've our orders, the Black Knights are friendly. Send out an extra platoon of Sutherlands to wipe out the enemy in Shizuoka- Yes, I want those Insurgents to be _completely_ annihilated. Also, if it's possible, get me a line with the Black Knight commander. We need to coordinate our attacks from here on out."

"But what about Princess Cornelia's standing orders against the Bla-" A daring and sceptical aide winced as his Genreal bore down on him like a bear.

"That has been cleared by Prince Lelouch, with Princess Cornelia. The details are classified." Darlton turned back to look at his command screen, "Now get to work Lieutenant."

The aides did not need any more convincing after that.

Out on the battle fields of Shizuoka, two Britannian Sutherland jockeys could only stare in slack-jawed awe as five distinct Japanese Gekkas tore through a platoon of Insurgent Gloucesters in a minute flat.

"Holy crud... That's Tohdoh of Miracles and his Four Holy Swords ain't it." Muttered one jockey.

"Yeah... at least they're on our side this time. I'd _hate_ to be on the wrong end of that sword." Agreed the other pilot.

Their Captain, piloting a banged-up Gloucester, wheeled up next to them and shouted, "If you've got the time to gawk, you've got the time to fight! Now get your ass back in this, We can't just let the Japs take all the darned glory can we?"

"R-right. Yes Sir!" Chorused the Britannian pilots.

The tide of the battle was finally starting to turn in Lelouch's favor again. Slowly, but surely.

Lelouch let out a small mental sigh of relief. The Black Knights sure had taken their time to regroup. _Ah well, I suppose it's due to the fact that I'm not there to keep things together anymore... but they couldn't have come in at any better time._ His own Britannian forces were on the brink of running out of Energy Filler supplies and his pilots were getting too fatigued from the battles to fight well against their more numerous and advanced opponents.

"My Lord." Darlton whispered over into his receiver.

Immediately, the Black Prince shook himself out of his own reverie, "Yes? Is there something else you'd like to add Darlton?" If Cornelia's General had chosen to whisper instead of speaking out loud like always, then there had to be a piece of serious news.

"I know it is not in my place to advise a Prince, especially one of your caliber-"

"Just tell me what you're talking about damn it!" Lelouch's lips was starting to tilt downwards in a frown, "Is there another attack? Perhaps a strike against Ashford Academy or the Parliament House of Japan. Or is-"

"You are taking the proper precautions right? Lady Cornelia would be furious if you did not." Darlton forced the words out in a rush and as quietly as possible.

Lelouch stared at the receiver dumbly for a second, not fully understanding what was going on. And then it clicked in his head; Kallen's blush, C.C.'s anger and Darlton's conspiratorial level whispers. _Oh no no no... Why is this happening to me._

"You're mistaken General Darlton I'm not-!" Lelouch winced when Darlton cut him off.

"I understand my Lord, but please take heed of my advice- You should wait for a few more years." Darlton paused for a moment to let his 'lesson' sink in before continuing in his usual tone, "We will require your presence in the Saitama Garrison in two hours for a conference with Princess Cornelia, Princess Euphemia and Kururugi Suzaku on the issue of the Black Knights' entry into this conflict. Have a good day Prince Lelouch."

"No wai-" The continuous whine began to rise from the receiver, signaling the end of the conversation.

With a small, dainty _humph_, C.C. stormed out of the room, back to her own quarters. Lelouch was going to suffer her wrath by footing the bill for enough pizza to feed all the Government Building staff.

Kallen's blush was starting to subside, "So I take it that you couldn't solve _that_ little bit of misunderstanding eh?"

Lelouch merely replied by hammering his own head into her bed and groaning out loud, "Why do people always misunderstand things."

Now _that_ was a question neither of them had an answer to.

"Anyways, we should hurry. It's an hour and a half ride down to Saitama, so we've got a half hour to freshen up and get breakfast." Kallen shooed her Prince off her bed and back into his own room, "Now hop to it. We can't be late to the meeting, or they might get more sensational with their rumors.

The Black Prince had to shudder in fear at that point. Euphemia had already started an 'innocent' but positively nasty piece of gossip amongst the loyal circles of the Britannian Nobility within Japan that he was already planning to marry his Knight and take up a couple more mistresses. Extra emphasis had been placed on the word _more_.

Some people working in the Administration Building were even starting to call him the second coming of the 98th Emperor. Only Charles di Britannia had indulged himself with a harem, no other Emperor had done the same. A few had taken-up second wives after their first one died, or had been wed to at most two women in their lives, but no one had gone overboard as Charles had.

Seventy registered wives _was _pushing right past the limits of ethical, medical and moral concerns after all. No one also wanted to mention the _countless_ affairs that the 98th Emperor had embroiled himself in.

"Alright... I get the picture. I'll meet you at the dining hall in fifteen minutes Kallen." Lelouch rushed out if the door and into his private bathroom, completely missing C.C.'s evil stare in his panicked bid to avoid more problems with his family.

"_Please... I want my head..._"

Kallen did not panic this time, when the undead figure appeared before her once more in the bath. Instead, she stared it straight in where its eyes would have been, "If you want your head, go to your grave. I've no time to deal with phantoms of the past." She turned away to finish her shower and change out into a new set of clothes.

By the time the Crimson Lotus had turned back to face the ghostly apparition, it had disappeared without a trace. _Thanks... Lelouch_...

* * *

"Where in heaven's name is Shirley? I thought you said that she was discharged from hospital two days ago!" Rivalz cried out at a caramel-brown haired woman, "She's still alive right Prez?"

'Prez', better known as Milly Ashford and a newly minted Earl, sniffed in mock hurt, "I never knew that you placed so little trust in me Rivalz... and I never knew that you had the hots for innocent, little Shirley. Am I not appealing to you?"

_Hah! I wish... I want Shirley back because you're driving me into the ground with work and everyone else in the Student Council has left. _Rivalz however, knew better than to tell the truth, and wisely chose to tell a white lie, "Well, Shirley is our friend you know and I have a right to worry for a friend that got shot. Besides, don't _you_ find this place a bit too empty these days."

"Hmm... that's true. Lelouch is the Sub-Viceroy of the Britannian Administration in Japan. Kallen is a Major in the Army and Lelouch's Knight to boot. Nina left for the mainland for a job offer with In Vogue; Britannia's premier particle physics research institute." Milly tapped her chin thoughtfully, "We really need more members for the club since its only the two of us left."

Rivalz really could not hold in the rivulets of sweat that were pouring out of his body at the antics of his love interest, "You didn't say what happened to Shirley, Prez."

Milly seemed to wake up from her day-dreaming about torturing newbies, "Oh yeah! Shirley left for the Mainland yesterday w-"

"SHE WHAT?" Rivalz shouted, "WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?"

Removing her index fingers from her ears and blowing imaginary dirt of them, Milly carried on, "Prime Minister Schenizel made an official proposal to date Shirley, and she accepted. Nunnaly and I were there to send her off. Can you believe she got a ride on the _Avalon_? That's the most famous ship in all of Britannia."

Rivalz was floored. All of his friends seemed to be getting involved with major things, from frontier science to relations with the highest echelons of Britannian society. Was he the only relatively normal person?

"B-but since when? How did Shirley end up with the _Prime Minister_? Wasn't she after Lelouch? Since when did you know about this? Does Lelouch know- Oh God! He'll go ballistic if her finds out his own brother is chasing his girl..." Questions were spilling forth from Rivalz's mouth faster than a talkative Milly on coffee.

_Wow... I never knew Rivalz could speak faster than I can with a cup of espresso and juicy gossip... well damn. What am I going to do without my favorite sla- I mean friends._ Milly let out a small sigh as she tried to placate a completely delirious Rivalz...

* * *

Aboard the mighty flagship of the Britannian Prime Minister, the pride of the Britannian Aerial Flotilla known to all as the_ Avalon_, Shirley Fenette stared out into the vast and seemingly barren expanse of ocean.

Thinking back to how she had been a mere student in a relatively out-of-the-way settlement Academy, Shirley wondered if she was dreaming.

Over the past week following the assassination attempt on Nunnaly where she had been shot by a terrorist, Schenizel had come to visit her everyday. The orange-haired girl personally found it to be a very kind gesture, one that Lelouch was not able to do due to the needs of his men, to lead in battle against the Insurgents.

Schenizel had tried to cover up his desire to see her by stating that Lelouch had asked him to check up on her. Shirley had to suppress a giggle when the White Prince gave her a falsely serious look after she accused him of lying.

In that short span of time, Shirley found herself forgetting about Lelouch so quickly that she herself found it to be a tad bit scary. Perhaps it was a guilty feeling that she felt, as though she was betraying her first crush.

But Schenizel was loathe to let her get away from him, not when he already knew that his younger brother had not taken her as a girlfriend and that he was very interested in her.

"Thinking of something Shirley?" the orange-head jumped and spun around to face Schenizel el Britannia, her boyfriend.

"Oh! Um..."

The Britannian Prime Minister chuckled kindly as Shirley stumbled over her words, "It's alright, you don't need to panic like that Shirley. I can hazard a guess that you're thinking about your friends in Towkyo."

Shirley flushed with embarrassment, "Well, yes your high- I mean Schenizel." The young schoolgirl hastily changed the way she addressed the White Prince when she caught a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The last time Shirley had called him a prince or by by title after he asked her to be his girlfriend, Schenizel had ruthlessly teased her for the entire day. _And that was just two days ago... just after I got out of hospital._ Shirley's eyes nearly glazed over at the memory of Schenizel kneeling right in front of her to ask for her hand in 'partnership'.

Even though the great Prime Minister of Britannia had successfully crushed rival politicians and foolish generals both within and outside of the empire with utmost style, he was abysmally awkward in his human-relations department. Shirley knew that no one actually had to formally ask to date another person by kneeling. That was reserved for marriage proposals for goodness sakes!

"I can assure you Shirley, that Cornelia and Lelouch are more than capable of handling the situation in Japan right know. In fact, Lelouch told me a few days ago that he managed to enlist the help of his Black Knight associates and that our former foe is willing to aid us in the defense of Japan." Schenizel reached out to put his hands on her shoulders, an effort to assuage her fears.

Kanon Maldini shot a glare at the helmsmen who were casting glances at his liege and his woman. The crew hurriedly returned their wandering eyes to their workstations. The Earl held the stare for a few more moments, before continuing his scan of the relatively empty bridge, making sure that his liege would have uninterrupted quality time with the 'Commoner' lady he had chosen.

"Yes, I know that. But I just can't help but worry. They are my friends after all." Shirley smile was filled with melancholy as she stared deeply into Schenizel's eyes.

"Fret not Miss Fenette, for now, you should just relax. You've not recovered entire from that regrettable incident and you would also be cast in the limelight of the Mainland press when we land, so you must be on top fo-" Schenizel's voice died in his throat when he saw the annoyed look on his girlfriend's face.

_Odd... I do not recall having done anything to warrant such a reaction from- oh no_ The White Prince's eyes widened markedly as he realized his own mistakes.

"I told you not to use such a formal tone with me!" Shirley was going into full-blown lecture mode, "That kind of speech is only meant for your Royal parties and what not..."

_His Highness is really clueless about the lives of Commoners. _Kanon had to use every ounce of discipline to hold in his laughter. _Perhaps I should have provided him with some advice first, before he decided to venture into dating Miss Fenette_.

Alas, unknown to Kanon Maldini, his own knowledge of "Commoners' lives" was little better than his liege's. All the Earl knew about the regular folk was dated information with regards to their apparel fashion and the more popular cuisine favored by Britannia's middle classes.

Shirley Fenette was indeed one of the average people in Britannian society, but she definitely would not be caught dead in the dresses that Kanon would suggest. Those were popular in the nineties among _older_ women. There was much left to be desired about the young officer's food choices too; California rolls had never and would never be part of the modern day Britannian middle class' list of cuisine.

It was more of a staple in the lower classes, who cared little for the notion that the perfectly nutritious and filling rice roll had 'subhuman' origins; namely Area Eleven, as some Nobles insisted on calling Japan.

Smoked wild Atlantic salmon slices capped with 'low-grade' caviar was more suitable to the average Britannian who happened to possess a craving for expensive food. Of course, it was nothing compared to the stocks of whale meat or other exotic foods from equally endangered animals that were available to the richest people of Britannia.

To sum it all up, Britannia really was a decadent and immoral society, where the strongest winner takes all and everyone else would be branded as a loser to be left on the wayside, the environment be damned too.

The White Prince was just miraculously lucky to find an honest sweet girl who had no qualms about talking to Royalty in a blunt manner. It was what made him so interested in her.

_Normal_ was the only word that could describe Shirley Fenette. Schenizel had to smile lightly as Shirley tried to teach him how to hold a nice and informal conversation with other people using the lessons from her late father for reference.

_Having the ability to speak without ever thinking about wide-spread consequences, without having to hide personal agendas._ Schenizel had to feel a bit envious of his girlfriend. He had been raised in the ideals of his father and no matter how much he tried to distance himself from the shadow of the Emperor, he was always stuck.

His strategies, his demeanor, his _personality_. All of it bore similarities to the Emperor's ruthlessness in dealing with enemies and callousness in casting aside loyal allies once they lost their usefulness.

Even in courting Shirley, Schenizel could not help but feel that he was stepping treading further onto his father's path. He was scared that he could become the very man he strove not to become, just by being with this girl.

_But Charles loved Marianne with all his heart._ Whispered a small soothing voice in his head. _Perhaps it was due to her death that his Majesty became so withdrawn... But you won't turn out like him, not if you can keep Shirley safe._

_HAH! You make it sound _so_ simple. Even his Majesty could not protect his beloved from assassination. _Shot back his more pessimistic and villainous side._ Besides... who's to say this girl won't betray you huh? Who's to say she won't stab you in the back-_

That was it. Schenizel just knew that he was going mad.

"Are you listening to what I'm saying Schenizel!" Shirley was positively steaming from the ears now, "You should know that no matter where you are, ignoring a lady is completely rude!"

Snapping out of his contemplations faster that a crashing Knightmare, Schenizel just had enough time to realize the trouble he was in and make a pitiful attempt to protect himself before Shirley tore into him viciously.

At this point in time, the bridge crew could not hold in their chortles any longer.

Even Kanon could not blame them. He was bent almost double and wheezing with laughter at the sight of a thoroughly embarrassed and flustered Second Prince who was struggling to placate a fuming Commoner.

_My interest in Shirley really might get me killed in the future... _Schenizel winced when Shirley shouted, "You thought that I was acting weird right? You did!" _Then again, going in such a fashion might not be so bad._

The White Prince let out a small smile as he took the tirade like a proper princely gentleman...

* * *

"Operation Divide has failed. Your orders master V.V.?" A young, fourteen year old teenage girl asked monotonously. Shrouded in the dark confines of her tiny apartment, the young lady was little more than a small and shadowed silhouette.

"It is not of overwhelming concern Elf. There are other ways to murder the Black Prince." the Immortal V.V. smirked at the pale and emotionless face of his servant from the comforts of his secret palace in Europe, "I expect much from you Elf, your Absolute Fear has the widest range out of all your brothers' and sisters' Geass after all. You're perfect for striking out at Lelouch even from a distance of four kilometers."

Elf merely acknowledged the order with the same frigid expression and cut the link, leaving V.V. to his own evil schemes.

The elder brother to Charles di Britannia let his shrewd gaze linger on the blank screen for a short while, "And remember Elf... the fate that will await you if you betray me as Dreizehn did."

Vibrating agitatedly, V.V.'s cell phone sprang into life. Flipping the clam shelled device open, the Immortal held it up to his ear, "Yes? Good. Make sure Elf doesn't step out of line Zwei, but prioritize the elimination of Dreizehn above all other objectives."

_You will not get in the way of Charles' and my dream. _V.V.'s hands balled into tight fists, drawing blood as the fingernails broke through skin, _I stopped your mother, Marianne the Flash. I will stop you and make you regret ever coming up against me Lelouch_.

V.V.'s insane cackle could be heard echoing throughout the Geass Order Training facility for the rest of the day...

"_Huff- huff- huff_." Rolo was running faster than he ever had in his hardest training sessions, _SHIT! Why is _he_ here._

Slipping into an alleyway that would take him out into the main streets of Towkyo, Rolo dashed onward in hope of escaping his assailant, whom he knew would not engage him in public. Whipping his standard issue Britannian pistol around, the former Geass Assassin fired wildly behind him in hopes of slowing his opponent down further.

Rolo never really expected the bullets to work anyway. Zwei's Geass would make sure of that.

Thankfully, his pursuer had been delayed sufficiently to allow Rolo to dash out into the open, panting wildly and visibly shaken.

Seeing his prey surrounded by concerned passers-by, Zwei faded back into the shadows of Towkyo's alleys, "Next time Dreizehn... next time."

_Zwei..._ _I have to warn Lelouch._ Rolo's eyes narrowed considerably even as a kind elderly lady tried to offer some help.

The Geass Assassins were coming.

_TBC_

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* * *

_

_From the Author: Well, that's all for now. The next update should be in December, once my dreaded Finals are over and done with. To the people who despise/love the Schenizel/Shirley pairing... there is good/bad news (The Ideas have spoken... How you interpret this is seriously up to your discretion)._

_As for the Idea deluge that resulted in the Writer's Overload... let's just say that you, my dear readers might have something else to try reading come December (If I'm not hated too badly for going missing for so long)._

_Finally, as with the last updates, Flame and Criticisms will always be accepted. Just do not include cussing or threats (Seriously!)._


	4. Author's Note

From The Author: I can't even believe I am doing this. I know you all will be asking (and probably adding threats to dismember me) why this story is not being updated (But I still am publishing a new story). The thing is… have you ever heard of a computer catching fire?

Probably not, but that's apparently what happens when a moron (myself) tries to play Star-Craft II and Supreme Commander on an ancient over-clocked graphic card and barely enough memory. To summarize; my entire work on The Black Prince, and Two other as of yet unnamed stories have gone up in complete smoke. Don't even get me started on the spares… I should have learned my lesson before.

This new story was however being written on my laptop and completed there. To those of you who like crossovers, and can stomach a lot of weird stuff, this might be applicable. To those who aren't, don't kill me.

The good news though is that with the hazy Ideas left of the latest chapter; three of the original 11-12 page chapter 4 of the Black Prince has been successfully reproduced. Do not ask for that smidgen of words… I only post full chapters.

Before this turns into a sob story blog post, I hope to complete the next chapter in a few weeks.

P.S: For all it's worth... MERRY CHRISTMAS and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!


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